Watch: Yankees fans cheer as Victor Gonzalez brings Gunnar Henderson to his knees with high fastball
The New York Yankees-Baltimore Orioles rivalry took center stage during the second game of the three-game series on Wednesday when Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson was drilled by Yankees' Victor Gonzalez. Notably, New York captain Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres were hit by pitches during the series opener on Tuesday.
During the top of the seventh inning, Henderson took one to his back after reliever Gonzalez's pitch went off the radar. To Henderson's credit, the former Rookie of the Year remained calm after going down on his knees. He tossed his bat aside and made his way to first base without uttering a word.
With the Yankees on the receiving end of two hit-by-pitch incidents on Tuesday, the Orioles broadcasters wondered if it was payback from the Bronx Bombers with the Yankees fans cheering after Henderson got hit at Yankee Stadium.
The cheers from Yankees fans could well be down to the fact that former MVP and fan-favorite Aaron Judge missed Wednesday's game after being hit by a pitch in the series opener. Colton Cowser was also hit by a pitch in the eighth inning.
While the scans on Judge's left hand came negative, Yankees manager Aaron Boone did not include him in the starting lineup with Trent Grisham taking his place in the outfield:
"I think it’s day to day,” Boone said. “It was probably close today. But definitely is still pretty sore in there, so I don’t want him to go out there and kind of compromise anything just to fight through it, just start a bad habit or something. So hopefully continue to get improvements today and we’ll see about tomorrow.”
Yankees fight to send game into extra
Ramon Urias' two-run home run gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead in the game at the top of the fifth inning. Ryan O'Hearn added another run with his second RBI double of the night.
Ryan Mountcastle extended the Orioles' lead to 5-1 after Gunnar Henderson's hit by pitch. But the Yankees refused to give up as they charted their way back into the game following Giancarlo Stanton's three-run homer in the seventh. Stanton added a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into a 10th inning.
The Orioles held on to win 7-6 in the end and level the series. The third and final game, now a series decider, takes place at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.